Photo of the Day

Amenophis (Amedeo Nazzari) grieves the death of his favorite holy man (Carlo D'Angelo) while Benakon the High Priest (Vincent Price, in background) watches on in NEFERTITE - QUEEN OF THE NILE

I just created a new Fan Dub of this film (I've been on a roll) and yes I'll be playing it on PEPLUM TV. While making the Fan Dub I was surprised by how simple the storyline is. If your brain sweats while watching this you'll need psychiatric help 'cause it's very black & white simple. The film is not bad. In fact it's pretty good but I just wished the script was more elaborate. Production design is good but the costume steal the show. They're excellent, for both women and men.

SUPERMAN VS HERCULES

A TV episode with Superman (George Reeves) battling a Hercules from a carnival. Hercules is played by Mickey Simpson. You can view the episode at Dailymotion.

PEPLUM in Japan

Some PEPLUM stuff in Japan.

Japanese poster for HERCULES UNCHAINED. Fantastic poster.

Japanese poster for SON OF SAMSON

Recent artwork on gladiator action. Great stuff.

Gina Lollobrigida on the cover of a vintage Japanese (or is it Chinese?) magazine.

Photo of the Day

Luisella Boni is being programmed into submission with hypnotism in FURY OF HERCULES

I made a Fan Dub of this film. The US copy is horrible so a Fan Dub was in order. This film is not as good as SAMSON, which is almost identical in every aspect except for a polished final film. FURY OF HERCULES feels like they collected scraps of footage left on the cutting room floor from SAMSON and they strung up a film together. It's amazing that you can have the same team, crew, actors, etc, and have two films end up being so different in quality. It's watchable and there are some good moments here and there but there are several truly terrible sequences in it, mostly to do with a myriad number of poorly scripted and acted subplots including this one about people being hypnotized into slaves for the villains' nefarious evil plots.

I was thinking of doing a special PEPLUM edit and delete most of these scenes (mostly of people crying, confused or dying) out of it which I might do later on. The film will be very short. Also, as in SAMSON, Alan Steel has a supporting role and though he wears a snazzy uniform he's sorta wasted in it. His role and presence is so much better in SAMSON.

I'm going to play this on PEPLUM TV this Saturday, including a couple of other Fan Dubs and Fan Subs I completely this week!

Moses and the tablets

When the iPad tablet was introduced folks had a field day comparing the new tablets to those Moses carried from Mount Sinai. If you google tablet + Moses, you'll see many mock images, including many portraying the late Steve Jobs as Moses.

After they were PEPLUM stars

PEPLUM star Harry Baird, who starred in two TAUR/THOR films, went on to star in the short-lived sci-fi TV series UFO in 1970. He was one of the interceptors  on the moonbase. As opposed to the two Italian-made films you can hear his real voice in the series.

Harry in TAUR THE MIGHTY costarring Joe Robinson

Photo of the Day

Bill Cord is given a lei by Lisa Montell as Don Durant looks on in SHE GODS OF SHARK REEF

This is a screenshot from the film's trailer which is in amazing quality compared to the quality of the film itself available out there, on DVD or the internet. Because it's in the public domain the chance of the film getting this rejuvenation treatment is unlikely but would be great. Roger Corman directed this film and he says it's one of his favorite films. It took two weeks to film and the Hawaiian location was a dream location. I posted this at PEPLUM X.

Behind-the-Scenes

Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren celebrate some sort of birthday or are at some party while filming EL CID. Heston is still in costume which means he just came from the set.

Same props, different films

Variations of the same prop, first seen in COLOSSUS OF RHODES (two first images), were later seen  in many other PEPLUM films. There are two types. Obvious alterations were made to them but it's from the same mold.

Above & below : URSUS & THE LAND OF FIRE

TRIUMPH OF THE TEN GLADIATORS

LOST TREASURE OF THE AZTECS featured both variations, the big one on the top left and also on the wall on the right next to Alan Steel.

Photo of the Day

Eve (Christiane Martel) and Adam (Carlos Baena) are tempted by an apple in ADAN Y EVA (or Adam & Eve).

Made in 1956 in Mexico. What's with Mexicans and Adam & Eve films? Seriously, though this murky image can't really show it but Christiane, a French model, is quite beautiful from certain angles. I posted a shot at PEPLUM X. As for Carlos well he's no Jorge Rivero. 

Then & Now : Ivo Garrani

Ivo Garrani as King Pelias in HERCULES (1958); A recent photo of Ivo.

It's amazing that King Pelias is still with us! He's 89 years old and was still acting up until 2009. Now I'd love to interview him. He must have tons of cool stories and information.

THE VIKINGS TV series

New dramatic TV series from the History channel. As long as it doesn't include cgi blood flying everywhere I would watch something like this.

Photo of the Day

Gladiators salute Valentiniano III (Roldano Lupi) in REVENGE OF THE GLADIATORS

Not to be confused with another film with the same English title starring Gordon Mitchell and Roger Browne. This one stars Mickey hargitay, José Greci and a couple of well known actors stuntmen like Giovanni Cianfriglia (second from the left) and Benito Stefanelli. The interesting thing about this seldom seen film are the gladiators pictured here known as The Invincible Six. This group of gladiators is just one of many which became popular in PEPLUM films in the early 1969s after GLADIATOR OF ROME (see a few posts below), like THE TEN GLADIATORS, GLADIATOR 7, THE SECRET SEVEN, etc. I played this film last Saturday when during GLADIATOR day. Did you watch it? The ratings were good and I'll definitely do another all Gladiator day in the near future. Who doesn't like gladiators!?!

Movie Poster Mondays

German poster for THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME

Love the artwork!

Photo of the Day

Anthony Steffen and Stanley Baker wait for someone to appear in jail cell below in SODOM & GOMORRAH

There's almost an identical scene (or I should say shot) in SPARTACUS with Peter Ustinov looking down at Spartacus and Varinia who are about to make love. The difference here is...well...we almost get a great view of what Anthony Steffen is made off (thank god they didn't do this with Ustinov!). I'm thinking director Robert Aldrich tried to be shocking (for that period) as every time I see this shot it stands out, for better or for worse.

That film was, like the mythical twin cities themselves, doomed from the start. For me the end product is disappointingly not very Gomorrah-like. I don't find it shocking in any way whatsoever. In fact, it's at times more corny than anything else. But I'm sure Aldrich, with his kinky tendencies (see THE LEGEND OF LYLAH CLARE...), wanted to go further but in 1962 there was so much one could show before being censored.

And here's the thing, the audience for this BIBLICAL film were Christians or Catholics, not necessarily the type to see some tawdry 2 hour long film. It basically was in a lose-lose situation which is why the $7 million film wasn't a hit (except in the UK). Critics savaged it (tacky is the word they used to describe it) and even composer Miklos Rozsa hated it. Part of the criticism was probably in part due to the fact that this was a Franco-Italian production via Titanus studios. The film is a real who's who of PEPLUM stars.

Now if Cecil B deMille had directed this it would have been equal parts staggering pseudo religious mumbo jumbo AND a definitive orgiastic masterpiece with the sinners getting their spectacular comeuppance. deMille took his orgies and sinners seriously.

Who wore it best?

Luisella Boni in FURY OF HERCULES or José Greci in REVENGE OF THE GLADIATORS

Hello Chelo (again)

Chelo Alonso

Photo of the Day

Wandisa Guida is Princess Irina in REVENGE OF THE CONQUERED (aka Drakut il vendicatore translation: Drakut the Avenger)

I'm currently working on a Fan Dub of this film. The copy I have in English is simply unwatchable but fortunately the sound is ok. When I watched the terrible copy I didn't realize how beautiful Wandisa was in this film due to the terrible image quality. This screenshot is from the official DVD and she's simply luminous.

Wandisa is a wonderful and expressive actress. During the late 1950s, Wandisa's career was heading towards major Hollywood productions but something happened during the early 60s and her career didn't catch fire as it should have. Her appearances after making this film shows some strain. She's also often saddled with awful wigs (see GLADIATOR OF ROME as example) but here she's fine.

Location : Real Desert Oasis

Crescent lake is a tiny 2000 year old real oasis not in the Sahara but in China's Gobi desert. It would make a great location for a film.

Link

After work activities

PEPLUM star Ed Fury dancing at some party in Italy.

Lobby Cards Set : HANNIBAL

US lobby cards set for HANNIBAL. It covers all the basic scenes in the film. Victor is the star and he's almost in all of the photos used. Elephants are also featured prominently. Not a spectacular set but it showcases the film in a good light.

PEPLUM versions of magazines

I made up this mock magazine cover.

Cover boy: Edmund Purdom from THE EGYPTIAN

Photo of the Day

Joan Collins in a publicity photo for LAND OF THE PHARAOHS

It's Joan's birthday today. She's 80 years old. I'd love to interview her for her PEPLUM roles. Joan was 22 years old when she made this Film. Happy birthday Princess Nellifer.

PEPLUM Cliché : Orgies/Pagan Feasts

The quintessential cliché in a PEPLUM film: orgies or pagan feasts. These scenes were big draws back in the day. They even mentioned these moments on their movie posters. I posted most of these at PEPLUM X yesterday but thought it was too good not to post it here.

Reposted at the PEPLUM Clichés page

A devilish looking orgy from HELEN OF TROY (1956)

A civilized feast in ALEXANDER THE GREAT; Danielle Darrieux is courted by handsome suitors

The wild feast/orgy in JULIUS CAESAR AGAINST THE PIRATES

The boring and sedated orgy in CONAN THE BARBARIAN

Gina Lollobrigida provides some excitement during a ritualistic feast in SOLOMON & SHEBA

An orgy in THE LAST ROMAN

The greatest orgy in PEPLUM history? From THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

A publicity photo for SODOM & GOMORRAH

Introducing Isabelle Corey...

PEPLUM star Isabelle Corey's first appearance in front of a camera. Isabelle's film career lasted 5 years but she appeared in several PEPLUM films including APHRODITE GODDESS OF LOVE, HEAD OF A TYRANT and THE LAST OF THE VIKINGS.

Photo of the Day

Mimmo Palmara plays a rebel in peril in SANDOKAN - PIRATE OF MALAYSIA (or known under many other titles)

Yesterday I posted a pic of women bound to poles well today it's Mimmo bound to pole in the middle of some alligator (or crocs) infested waters. This is a good scene. And Mimmo is pectacular.

Titra Sound studios

Titra studios were a big post production sound studio (in New York city, as the credits says) and one can see their name on certain films. Not all PEPLUM films were dubbed by them. There were different studios, including many in Italy, but Titra dubbed big titles like GOLIATH & THE SINS OF BABYLON (above) and GOLIATH VS THE DRAGON (below).

From Wikipedia:

"Titra Sound studios is an American dubbing studio. The studio was responsible for dubbing numerous foreign films, including Mothra vs. Godzilla 1964 as well as the Speed Racer cartoon series (produced in Japan) and the original Ultraman TV series.

Among the many actors who worked for the studio were Peter Fernandez and the future Barney Miller star Hal Linden."

Sword of Rome board game

Here's a board game about the conquest of Italy called SWORD OF ROME. I never played it but it looks like the RISK board game.